Please post your reviews of the Canadian display here!

Enjoy the display, as well as the July-like weather to go along with it!

Trav.

This was surely a well anticipated display to begin with. Initially my plan was to head home after work, but decided to get a glimpse of what a display looks like 'in' the park. As I have read the review and the soundtrack post, I'll review those under to some references. Unfortunately I did not have my camera to capture such amazing footage, it would have been something worth sharing. I will be awaiting Burch's video to recapture all the astonishing segments in this display.

The display began very well in synchronization and had great pace. There was a much spread out display compared to the other various displays I have noticed in the past. Shells and candles traveled long distances away from the ramps and adjacent to the crowd. The transitions were well done and lots of interesting colours flourished everyones eyes including myself. There was extensive use of all ramps and great effects and product were what gave the crowd tremendous amounts of applause from almost all points of the display.

Half way through the display, the pacing was still great and had great timing with the rhythm of the music. Fans of candles gave great ooo's and ah's from the crowd as well as the mixture of candles. Some small flaws of product were noticed near the one shots and candles including premature fires and a couple pieces that did not fire. Large quantities of shells filled the sky at crescendos and kept a very good balance below on the effects. The display packed superb variations of product that included girandolas (flying saucers), strobes, and screeching mines as well as tour billions with reports which I believe must have been from Soldi (could be wrong however). Some shells seemed to have large punch in them, after reading Paul's interview, those 10 inch shells had the power of 12 inch shells at multiple moments. The smaller shells as well, including salutes seemed to have lots of power and gave significant thumps to my chest. Though this could be only me having the thought, after it being a display I have viewed from the park since almost eight or nine years.

The ending had superb flows to it. The second to last song was Linkin Park's Waiting For The End gave the crowd and myself the impression that the faux finale WAS the finale with a very rapid succession of shells filling the sky in colour and dozens of mines and candles below and ending off with a large barrage of titanium salutes below. As everyone started cheering very loudly and some people rose, Snow Patrol's Chasing Cars started to play as everyone gathered attentiveness and sat back down. I had wondered when Linkin Park's song commenced, that it was still another 5 minutes till the show was supposed to end and surprisingly, they managed to fit in the last song in under 3 minutes. At the chorus, gold shells began to fill the sky and mines of gold built in. More into the final minute and at the final chorus, the pace began to increase and increase until everyone was roaring and cheering. I began to stomp my feet and withstood the incredible force of hundreds of shells of all sizes filling the sky in more gold with powerful one shots in front. Following this, barrages of thunder mine candles (definitely from Panzera) began to take place with higher increase in shells filling the sky, and finally tremendous volleys of gold shells of high caliber, medium caliber, mines and salutes ripped the sky and my ears apart with the most immense force I have ever withstood from few dozen yet fearce ground salutes above the ramp 3, on the water. This ended with me cheering to all my capabilities, temporary hearing impairment and the crowd around me experienced the same. A wonderful finale!

Gathering up all the sights I saw earlier, this display truly made a landmark in what I call a display! I was truly impressed especially with it being the first appearance for the company. In my personal thought, it might have knocked Royale's display and Fireworks Spectacular's display. The finale had great pacing, and the quantity doubled and tripled to all capabilities. The ground salutes above the water really made the finale tremendously noisy and made me WOW for such a long period of time. I could be wrong to others, but I believe this will be a tough one to beat and definitely has a chance of taking a Jupiter. Patrick really made the display something extraordinary and vibrant. The entire synchronization was terrific with the mixture of popular music that made it pleasant for many young adults who grew up listening to Linkin Park, M83, Jonsi and Snow Patrol in their infance. If I gave the display a rating myself, I'd throw a 9/10 for a well gathered show. Let's see what Greece and the other upcoming participants are preparing to gather to win a Jupiter.

Pat

The 250th display in the history of the Montreal International Fireworks Competition (a milestone surprisingly unnoticed by the organizers, whereas they had highlighted, at least to a certain extent, the 100th, 150th and the 200th shows) leaves me with a strange feeling: on one side, it was a very good show, on the other side, it missed something...

So far, Sirius presented the most complex design this year. All segments were made of pyrotechnic effects at different levels. Many nautical products (flares, rotative fountains, huge mines, as well as a finale volley of nautical salutes) have been displayed on the water. Spinning gerbs ended in a sort of girondolas effect. Other flying saucers, with one and two ascents, also appeared but in a somewhat confusing way, as the double-ascension girondolas were not easy to identify because they were mixed with single-ascension ones. Countless mines erupted during the first half of the show, as well as many cakes shooting stars, whistles or electrical comets. In brief, we enjoyed a wide range of effects and the whole show was not repetitive at all. Synchronization was tied to the music through the show. And the mix of soundtrack was great, with fluid transitions between most segments. The penultimate one ended with a faux-finale, before the actual finale mostly made of kamuro-style effects and salutes, both in the air and on the water.

However, I didn't feel any sort of emotional connection with this show. It may be due to the sort of musics, which appeal a small part of the audience I suppose, or the lack of theme. Twice on my way back to the metro station, I heard other viewers talking about the fireworks, and they commented last week Swiss display instead of the Canadian one. It reflects an actual gap between both performances. As great as the pyromusical design has been, it was a typical one, without the small (or spectacular) thing which makes an extravaganza unforgettable. Nonetheless, I have to say that Sirius did a very good performance, and I enjoyed much more that show than the previous one of Patrick Brault (the American display in 2011).

In its interview, Paul reported that a fifth ramp was going to be installed tonight; but instead of floating platforms closer to the audience than the third and fourth ramps, as it is usually the case, it was made of floating platforms between the second and third ramps (on both sides of the fourth ramp). While I have recognized the effects launched from these platforms, they didn't bring anything to the show.

Otherwise, there's really an issue with the seating process the managers should be awared of. Too much people arrived late in the grandstands or spend too much time to find their seats. These problems are growing and it is very disturbing for the audience to endure that.

Fred

That was a very good show by Sirius! The songs choices were very good for me, with a different title the show could have had a much united theme. The display had a dark and a little sad feeling to it which i actually enjoyed. The atmosphere that sirius was able to build was very good, the show was very well synchronized and at the same time it wasn't "robotic". The overall design of the show definitely had a lot of spanish influence. It looked almost like a spanish show with all the roman candles and one shot sequences. As Fred have said synchronization was specially more apparent in the first half of the display while the more emotional parts of the show were at the second half. The quality of the fireworks ranged from average to good. It was very nice to see that much Antonio Caballer effects, knowing that their already out of business. Some of my favorite effects from them were the nautical salutes, willow to blue horsetails, the red with gold strobe comets nautical shells, and ofcourse the different kinds of far falle! The small square that they formed in the middle of the firing area was a good addition the show, they could have used it a little more though to better highlight this feature. Some criticisms that i could make for the show was that there was a bit too much mistake with the angles of the mines and comets. Many of them also appeared to have blown out in their mortars specially during the grey's anatomy soundtrack. Some of the comet headers were also coming out and breaking which made the sequences look messier than they were intended to be. The double finale was very good! The salute shells at the end sounded really powerful, I wonder what size they were.

The competition is definitely heating up. Up next is Nanos fireworks, I hope they don't disappoint! They are usually very creative and uses a lot of RICASA products!

Vander

Here is the video for Canada - July 14: http://www.burchcom.com/2012/index.html

If you want to download and save a copy to your hard drive, right click on this URL and select "save target as":
http://www.burchcom.com/2012/canada2012_qtp.mp4

Hey folks,

What a hot and humid night that was! Perfect weather for a good fireworks display. Overall, Canada's display was intriguing, but not fully balanced. I agree with Fred that although the show had little repetition, the song selection used did not enable me to emotionally connect with the display. I found that quite odd since the display did contain a lot of activity (much more so than Japan's) and also a great deal of complex synchronization (more than Japan and Switzerland combined). But because of the soundtrack, I was feeling "down" most of the time. I heard Patrick's interview right after the display on the radio. He mentioned that he wanted to use music the audience had never heard before. I respect his choice, but the music selected was not very fireworks friendly in my opinion (except for the faux finale, great song). Now Pat compares this display to Royal's, but that display had me practically crying due to the emotionally pleasing songs used

Overall, a good display

Rankings:
1) Switzerland
2) Canada
3) Japan (but best products, quality wise)

Dan

Are you out of your mind ? This was the best soundtrack EVER to a fireworks show ! I was getting tired of all those overused songs or classic movie songs that people NEVER listen to in regular day to day life. This show had the best synchro I have seen in many years. Kudos for them doing a show to real music.

And the pre-finale and finale is the best I have seen yet in all the show I saw.

Switzerland had me snoring to their music. Japan had great products, but was not a Pyro-Musical show, more of a display of awesome shells to a background Japanese soundtrack.

This show is the one to beat this year by far.

1) Canada
2) Switzerland
3) Japan (albeit great products)

Are you out of your mind ? This was the best soundtrack EVER to a fireworks show ! I was getting tired of all those overused songs or classic movie songs that people NEVER listen to in regular day to day life. This show had the best synchro I have seen in many years. Kudos for them doing a show to real music.

I admit the change of style for the music was great but I would in no way admit it was the best soundtrack to a fireworks display. Having soft melody music or various composed music by very talented people helps bring emotion to capture a wonderful display, even if some don't enjoy it. The songs which are overused are coincidental and aren't reused by a proceeding firm because it captivated the audience from another firm's display. Call me old school, but some classical music once in a while helps my mind wander in the furthest distances and hasn't disappointed many firework enthusiasts over the many years of the competition. As for synchronization, it was spot on, but I have seen even better synchronizations from past displays in the competition, best example would be Luso's display in 2008. That, to me, stood out the most in synchronization that year, and was beaten by Pyrotecnico, Howard & Sons and Sunny. I wonder how this display in your view, managed to have more synchronization than Luso's.

Long time listener, first time caller.

I registered just to agree with Cat, and add that I am glad to see some different music.

If this were all about presenting a fireworks display that exactly echoed all past displays and followed a set formula to soothe the masses it wouldn't be a competition worth watching, in my opinion.

[Sommelier]

Very impressive show by the Canadian firm. I thought it was very well designed and had interesting effects. Synchronization was very good. The soundtrack was ok, but I did not like some of the songs. Overall, this was an above average display and a very satisfying one. Glad that they added a faux finale. Finally, we also witnessed a very good finale (but we have yet to see a real finale, like France 2005)!

My rankings so far:

1. Canada
2. Switzerland
3. Japan

In response to Saluteness, call me new school, but it was the first time in many years that I felt moved by the music, and that a show finally took into account the fact that not all people listen to classical music. It was almost frustrating in the past that our generation was ignored by the designers as far as music is concerned.

And for the Luso show of 2008, I had to look back into the video. And as you quoted, it was "robotic" synchro. Synchro in my understanding is more then just hitting the notes, it's hitting the right notes to enhance an emotional response. And Sirius did that.

I hear through the branches that Nanos will have something in their show not very pyro like.

My review of the Sirius Pyrotechnic display is here: http://montreal-fireworks.com/ReportBlog/?p=583

A stretch of hot/very hot and humid weather built across S. Ontario and S. Quebec, hot and long enough that a formal heat wave was born after the third consecutive day of temperatures surpassing the 30 C/32 C threshold for many areas. Maximum temperatures in Montreal reached just over 33 C (on July 14th), and the high/very high humidity that accompanied the heat also meant that humidex values were approaching the mid 40s C, in some case. Late-evening temperatures also remained near-constant at 30 C in the metropolitan area. With the combination of high humidity and light winds, smoke build-up, at times, became a factor, but the WSW winds were mostly pushing the smoke to the right of the audience at La Ronde (left for those on Notre-Dame), although right-hand sections were sometimes receiving it.

Following Switzerland’s exciting and engaging display, our third debutante participant of 2012, Sirius Fireworks of Canada, delivered a beautifully crafted, though very different, performance. At some points, it reminded me a little of a Spanish/Italian type of show, perhaps because of the general pace involved, and due to some of the effects used. At the beginning, the show started off serenely, with a gradual arrangement of red flares distributed at low-level, but soon after followed by a rush of shells and comets that delightfully surprised the audience! The display offered good product diversity, a fair variety of colors, originality, and some subtle transitions. However, I personally felt that synchronization was the strongest aspect of this display, especially at low-level with the mines, gerbs and single-shot/angled comets, most noticeable during the first half of the display (mostly during segment four (Intro), with the angled mines). When appropriate, a careful choice of effects were used to define many of the soundtracks involved. For example, during segment three (Ping Island/Lightning strike rescue op), shells of go-getters and screaming serpents, as well as the nautical shells, well portrayed some of the major elements of the soundtrack used. During segment six (Little Motel), shells of falling leaves and single-ascension girandolas also were implemented to represent some of the tranquility of that song. I also loved the nautical flares used to represent a part of “Sinking Friendship”.

My principal criticisms with this display are related to the overall conceptual framework. As several other members of this forum have already expressed, I, too, share the feeling that, though unique, the musical selection (a few exceptions, of course) was not very compatible with the fireworks, nor did it have any sort of relevance to the employed theme of “Eclipse” (perhaps some brief narration would have helped here). Probably more important, to me, is many of the soundtracks’ inability to evoke the different emotions that I had previously envisioned in association with such a theme. A previous examination of the proposed soundtrack led me to doubt the musical capability to effectively outline the thematic premise, and, really, there was very little connection. Though I am not a fan of the overall musical choice, and in spite of the music-fireworks link being well established, the display did not, in my mind, drive a distinctly emotional atmosphere, unfortunately. The beginning of the show had a little more direction in this context, but once arriving at segment five (Sail), I started to lose the fluidity. Apart from the music, however, synchronization was very good, although a couple of areas could have been a little better at mid to high-level - synchronization itself appeared most emphasized for the first sections of the display. Also, the color diversity was reasonable but had narrowed towards the second half of the show. The faux and real finales were good, although I would have personally preferred a more colorful grand finish, especially after such a convincing penultimate piece!

All that being said, in spite of my criticisms directed largely toward the musical choices and structure of this display, I believe that, given the strong synchronization, originality, creativity, sequencing (especially with the nauticals and other low-level effects), and musical representation, the Canadian team stands a fair chance for picking up a Jupiter. However, this may be highly dependent on the judges’ taste in music, and how emotionally drawn they were to the display in relation to it. On another note, as learnt from the past, we have witnessed displays emerging successfully when poorly understood thematic connections were present for those shows, so this obviously needs to be kept in mind.

This year’s competition is certainly showing signs of becoming a more distinct race, unlike the most recent years.

Pat, nice to see you after nearly two years!

Trav.